Blinken insists Gaza ceasefire deal on track after hecklers interrupt press conference


In a dramatic display of anger over US support for Israel’s war in Gaza, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken’s farewell press conference was interrupted by two pro-Palestinian reporters who accused him of enabling “genocide.”

One shouted: “Criminal! Why aren’t you in The Hague?” as security officers carried him out of the State Department briefing room.

Another reporter was kicked out of the room at the start of a rare appearance by Mr. Blinken, who came to summarize his four-year term and answer reporters’ final questions.

At a news conference, Mr. Blinken said that, despite reports of last-minute problems, he was “confident” that the cease-fire agreement reached this week by Hamas and Israel would go into effect on Sunday as planned.

Mr. Blinken otherwise covered largely familiar ground as he fielded questions that focused mostly on criticism of the Biden administration’s continued supply of arms to Israel as Palestinian casualties mounted, and Mr. Blinken noted that Hamas has embedded itself among civilians. “Some people say we have done too much to contain Israel,” he said. “Others say we’ve done too much to enable.”

But the press conference was best remembered for the outbursts that punctuated Mr. Blinken’s opening remarks, such as Aaron David Miller, a former longtime diplomat, he said on X he never saw.

Man lifted from his seat and carried away several security officials was Sam Husseini, who identifies himself online as “an independent journalist and writer who has been cutting through establishment falsifications for 25 years” and is known for his confrontational questions at department briefings.

Another reporter was Max Blumenthal, a prominent left-wing journalist and fierce critic of Israeli politics, who asked Mr. Blinken: “How does it feel that your legacy is genocide?”

Then, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he added: “You waved a white flag in front of Netanyahu!”

Such invectives are by now all too familiar to Mr. Blinken, who was recently booed by protesters and called a war criminal during his remarks on Gaza at a Washington think tank this week. In both cases Mr. Blinken was mostly unperturbed and continued his remarks after the room had returned to calm.



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